Learn by Doing
by Flux Casey
Summary: Should a ten year old boy who doesn't know thing one about his chosen path really start walking it?


"You promised me!"

"I promised only if you were ready!"

"I am ready! I'm ten!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it, young man!"

"You can't stop me! It's the rules! When I turn ten I can get my license! That's how it works!"

" _If I say you can_! And I don't! You barely take care of yourself when you're at home! How am I supposed to trust you to take care of something that depends on you?"

"I can handle it! Why don't you believe in me?!"

"Ash-"

*SLAM*

The door rattled slightly on its hinges from the impact. Never underestimate the strength of children throwing a tantrum. "Well, that could have gone better," Delia Ketchum sighed, frustration running through her.

She had had to raise Ash by herself. His father had been a Pokémon trainer and as it turned out, a deadbeat. Before Ash had even been born the man had run off to Arceus knows where without looking back, leaving a 19 year old Delia with a newborn and no income. She had worked hard to make sure Ash had everything he needed to find his way in the world. And of course the path he had chosen was that of a Pokémon trainer. Like father, like son, she supposed.

She rather hoped that that particular idiom wouldn't go _too_ far. No son of hers was going to become a deadbeat dad, no sir!

Still... Her son wanted to become a pokémon trainer. And the first step on that path was going on his first journey, usually starting between the ages of 10 and 12 depending on local regulations. In Kanto, it was 10. And come hell or high water, Ash Ketchum wanted to get started as soon as he possibly could, regardless of how ready he was.

Delia sighed again. She needed to find a way to get her boy to understand the responsibility he'd be taking on.

-(-)-

Ash Ketchum was _not_ sulking in his room.

Ash Ketchum just turned ten years old. He was too old to sulk. Even if his Mom was stomping on his dreams, sulking was for babies.

No, what Ash Ketchum was doing was thinking. Yep. Thinking, sitting on his bed, with his knees drawn up to his chest, with a pouting express- ahhh, a deeply contemplative expression on his face.

"Not ready. What does that even mean? I'm ten! You turn ten, then you can become a trainer! That's how it works!" Ash whine-... 'mused' to himself.

*"And it looks like Nidorino is being returned! Which Pokémon will the trainer from Vermillion City use next?!"*

"Oh, it's Onix," Ash said in exact sync with the commentator. It was a repeat of the previous Indigo League semi-finals and he had seen it over a dozen times. "I could've been in the next one," he sulked.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Ash?" Delia spoke quietly as she opened the door and saw her son moping.

"Go 'way Mom," he answered, sullenly, curling in on himself further.

"Honey, I know you're mad at me right now." She watched Ash turn away from her into the wall. "But I need you to understand where I'm coming from. That's why... I'm going to give you a chance to prove me wrong."

Ash's head turned back towards her slightly. He was listening.

Delia Ketchum presented a book. It was essentially a pokémon trainer's guide for dummies. She had bought it for him a year ago but he had never read it. He was one of those kids that would say 'studying is boring', even about things he liked. "I'm going to ask you ten questions about things in this book. If you can get six of them right, I'll let you go get your license tomorrow."

She fully had his attention now. He was fully looking at her, still mopey but with a glint of determination in his eyes.

" _But_ ," she stressed, "if you can't do that, you'll listen to me and wait until you're _really, truly_ ready. Deal?"

"... Deal." He still looked a bit pouty but he was willing to play along.

"That's my boy. Now, let's see, question one..." Delia flipped through the pages of the book. She figured she'd give him an easy couple to start off. "Okay. What is the relationship between the three starter types: grass, water and fire?" Even she knew this one.

"That's easy! Water beats fire, fire beats grass, grass beats water!" Ash answered excitedly. If all the questions were this easy he'd have his own pokémon before he knew it!

"Correct! Question two... What is the best type to use against a dragon type?"

"Hmm," Ash paused to consider. "Well ice is supposed to have the type advantage... But a lot of dragons have fire moves. I hear that the fairy type that was discovered a few years ago is immune though! Fairy type!" Ash finished confidently.

Delia's brow furrowed as she quickly flipped through the book. The book said ice type was correct but fairy wasn't mentioned in the book at all. "Uhh... correct!"

Ash did a fist pump. He was on a roll!

"Okay... Question three. At minimum, how long should a pokémon be allowed out of it's ball each day?" No more going easy.

"Uhh... An... hour?" Ash guessed.

Delia shook her head. "Four or five hours is recommended. Three minimum. Question four... What is the usual method for bathing fire types?"

"Oh, come on what does that have to do with-?"

"Ash." Delia stopped him.

Frustrated, Ash tried to think up a plausible answer. "Boiling water?" It was super hot so would be better for fire types, maybe?

Delia shook her head. "Very wrong. Scrubbing with a dry brush using a specialised soap. Water can be deadly to a lot of fire types, even if it's boiling." The book actually called out using boiling water as something _not_ to do, and a common mistake of rookie Trainers. She could see Ash was getting frustrated but carried on. She needed to get the message through. "Question five. Generally speaking, how often should you feed your pokémon?"

"Uhh..." _'Okay, think it through, Ketchum.'_ He thought to himself. _'The book says they should be out for at least a few hours a day, right? So that means...'_ "O... once a day?"

Delia slowly shook her head again. "Pokémon still use energy in the pokéball, Ash. Aside from a few specific outlying breeds, twice a day minimum. More depending on how active they are."

"M-Mom..."

Delia looked back at the book as soon as she saw the look on her son's face. She had to keep going. He needed to understand. "Question six," she started with a hitch in her voice, "What should you do if your pokémon gets severely injured in the wilderness?"

"Get to the nearest Pokémon Centre!" Ash answered immediately, firmly confident.

Ash's mother forced herself to look at her son. "I'm sorry honey."

"B-but-!"

"When a pokémon is severely injured in an uninhabited environment, the trainer should use emergency medical supplies such as potions and antidotes to stabilise the pokémon as best as possible. Following that, the trainer should make their way to the nearest Pokémon Center or _ranger station_ marked on their map." She quoted.

"But... But I don't know how to-!" Ash started and then realisation kicked in.

He didn't know how to treat injuries. He didn't know how to read a map. He didn't know how to do _any_ of it. He had some basic knowledge about pokémon and how trainers operated... but when it came to actually looking after a pokémon and bringing out the best in them... Nothing.

And that was when ten year old Ash Ketchum realised his dream was so much further away than he thought. "I get it, Mom. You can stop now."

Delia watched at her son, clutching at his knees, shaking as drops of moisture appeared on his jeans. "Oh, honey!" She said, dropping the book and rushing to envelop her little boy in a hug.

As soon as she touched him he lunged at her for comfort, openly bawling his eyes out. "I thought I could do it!" he sniffled.

"You can, Ash!", Delia told him, rubbing circles in his back. "I know my boy can do anything if he gives it everything he has! I know if I said okay and you went out there tomorrow you would be amazing. But I also know if I said okay and you went out there tomorrow, you, your pokémon or _both_ could get seriously hurt." _Or worse_. "When you go out there I can't look after you anymore. I just want to know that when you go out into the world you know how to take care of yourself."

Not getting any response, Delia continued to comfort her son until he stopped crying. Noticing that he had fallen asleep, she put him to bed.

She herself stayed up well past midnight, searching for a way to help her boy past this new-found obstacle.

-(-)-

"Mom? Why are we here?" Ash asked his mother as they walked up the path to the Oak Laboratory. It was a little before midday, the newly licensed pokémon trainers for this year were either back home getting to know their new pokémon or already out on their journey.

"Well, this morning I gave the Professor a call and... Well, we have a bit of a surprise for you," Delia hesitated as she pressed the doorbell. "I still think giving you your own pokémon is a bit premature but-" she was cut off as she heard the door unlatch.

Opening the door was the man himself, one-time Indigo League champion and currently one of the foremost experts on all things pokémon, Professor Samuel Oak. "Delia!" he exclaimed on seeing her, a polite but genuine smile on his face. "Oh, sorry with young Ash, also! What can I do for you?"

Delia eyes started to roll before she suppressed the urge. "Hello, Professor. We spoke this on the phone morning about...?" she trailed off, hoping it would come to him. The man was a genius but he fit the absent-minded professor stereotype to a T.

Realisation dawned. "Of course! I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind. You'd think after the new batch of trainers are out the door things would calm down a little but there's always something that needs doing. Oh, where are my manners? Come in!" he invited as he opened the door for them.

Ash followed his mother in and through the hallway into the... library? There were a lot of books but since this was a laboratory that might be true of every room. Either way it doubled as a comfortable sitting room, two couches across from each other surrounding a coffee table.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. Would you like something to drink?" Oak asked.

"Oh, thank you, Professor, some tea would be lovely," Delia smiled.

"Ah... Can I have some juice? Ah, I mean please!" Ash requested, adding his manners thanks to the look his mother was giving him.

"Back in a jiffy!" Oak said cheerily as he stepped out again.

"Mom?" Ash asked as the mother and son sat next to each other on one of the couches.

"I know, honey." Delia answered, knowing what her son was asking with that single word. "But let's just wait for the professor to get back. He'll be able to explain it much better than I can."

It was only a short wait for the elder man to return carrying a tea tray holding a pot, two cups and a glass of leppa juice. Laying the tray on the table, he took his own seat on the couch opposite the Ketchums. "Now Ash," he began, pouring tea for both himself and Delia, "I'm sure it was quite a shock when your mother raised concerns about you being a trainer. I hope you know she didn't say it just to hurt you. She worries because she loves you."

"I know." Even as the boy said it, the pout was audible in his voice, his body closed inward as he seemed to stare into his juice.

Samuel Oak watched the boy and could see his words might as well have been directed at the wall for how much attention they'd receive. Ash Ketchum was clearly too deep into his moping to listen to anyone's reasons for why he wouldn't do what he wanted to do.

So he decided to just move on to the point of this visit.

"Now I'm sure you've been wondering why your mother brought you to visit me today. I have an offer for you, young man."

The boy's eyeline moved from his juice to the professor's knees. Well... It was _something_. An indication he was at least listening now.

"In Kanto, the age restriction for becoming a pokémon trainer is ten years old. However, by necessity that also means the age restriction for many jobs dedicated to pokémon is also ten years old." He paused to take a sip of his tea. "Now, I know you want to be a pokémon trainer. Your mother is worried you don't know how to look after them. So... What do you think of working here, Ash?"

"... Huh?" Ash answered eloquently.

"Most of the pokémon the trainers in Kanto catch are sent here. A trainer can only carry six at once, after all. So, while they're here, part of my job is to look after them, keep them in good shape in case the trainer needs them. While I have assistants they're often out doing field research so it's mostly just me. It's a big job for just one man, I have a lot of other projects that end up neglected so I could use another pair of hands. What do you say? You could learn all about looking after all kinds of different pokémon so when you do set out as a trainer in your own right, you'll know how to treat your team right."

"... I'd get to spend all my time with pokémon?" Ash asked quietly.

Oak hummed thoughtfully. "I don't want you to get the impression it would be all fun and games. It will be hard work, I assure you. But yes."

"When can I start?!"

-(-)-

A/N: Didn't think I'd ever end up finishing this thing. Was an idea I had a long time ago (two years according to the document data) but I didn't know where I'd end up taking it so it just sat there half-finished. Found it looking through some old projects and it seemed a waste to just leave it in limbo like that. It might stay a one-shot, might follow it up if I come up with a way to keep it going and stay interesting. I'm open to suggestions.

At least it isn't yet another Ash betrayal fic, right? Well, saying that, looking at what some of those fics consider to be betrayal... "Hey, Ash, maybe you should train more so you don't suck?" "How dare you betray me like this wahhhhh!" By that metric maybe it fits.

Ah well.

If you would like to support me directly, there is now a way you can do so through popular donation platform that exists that I'm not allowed to say the name of on this site. You know the one. Please consider helping out. I intend to focus only on writing for the next few months at least but the only way I can do that long term is with your support.

EDIT: Okay. I've had this brought up twice now. Apparently there are people being picky about stories. I appreciate the warnings. That said, I don't care. I don't care I don't care I don't care. They can pick all they want I still won't care and no I won't block them just on people's say so. If they have a problem they can review and say what they don't like. And then I can hear them out and if they have good points I'll take it on board. That's what reviews are for. If they say mean things I'll more likely ignore them. If they keep doing it _maybe_ I'll consider blocking them. If you're going to leave a review, tell me what you think of the story. That's what they're for.

Thanks for reading.


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